Quick guitar quiz – April 2011

It’s always a good idea to test yourself to get an idea of how well you know a topic. Guitarists can sometimes get a little close minded (been to a guitar forum lately?) and will assume they know everything they need to know. An expert guitarist on the other hand knows that they will never know everything and they constantly look to learn more. This little quiz will give you a quick snapshot on how well you know a couple topics on guitar. The topics this month are music theory and playing with a capo. Two very important areas that everybody should understand.

Write out your answers as you go through the questions then compare them to the answers below. There’s no point cheating – you will only set yourself back.

Music Theory

What is the formula for the Major Scale?

What is the formula for a Major chord?

What is the formula for a minor chord?

What notes are in the chord G Major?

What notes are in the chord F Minor?

What notes are in the scale A Major?

What notes are in the scale D Major?

Playing with a capo

What chord will you be playing if you play:

Em chord shape with the capo on the third fret?

C chord shape with the capo on the fifth fret?

Am chord shape with the capo on the second fret?

Dm chord shape with the capo on the fourth fret?

What chord shape will you need to use to play a:

Em chord with the capo on the seventh fret?

G chord with the capo on the fifth fret?

Fm chord with the capo on the third fret?

Take your time and write down your answers before you even think about checking them below. It’s okay if you need to pick up your guitar and work the answers out by placing a capo on the guitar – it’s all about getting the answer in the end. Over time these answers will come to you in an instant.

Answers

Music Theory

W W H W W W H

1 3 5

1 b3 5

G B D

F Ab C

A B C# D E F# G#

D E F# G A B C#

Playing with a capo

What chord will you be playing if you play:

Gm

F

Bm

F#m

What chord shape will you need to use to play a:

Am shape

D shape

Dm shape

How did you go?

“That was easy!” Great! Many guitarists struggle to answer questions like these so if you got through them easy you should be happy with your understanding.

“I got most of the answers, it just took a while to work them out” Good work. You don’t need to be able to answer the questions instantly. If you understand the theory behind the questions then that’s great. Over time you will get faster at figuring out the answers until it becomes a piece of cake.

“I sort of knew what to do, but didn’t get many right” Don’t stress about it. With practice you will get the hang of it. Being able to answer questions like these is a skill like any other. It may be worth reading up on the theory again to make sure you understand what you need to do (see resources below).

“The questions may as well be written in Greek, I didn’t understand anything!” If you are only starting out guitar, questions like these may seem confusing and hard. But like anything else, you can learn the theory and learn to apply it. If you struggled with these questions, check out the two lessons below as they contain all the explanations and exercises to help you out.

Resources (to help you get the right answers)

Check out these lessons to learn the theory behind these questions. After reading them, save this post in your bookmarks/favorites and come back to it in a weeks time to try out the quiz again.